Contact Information

Undergraduates

Over 800 students pursue baccalaureate degrees offered through the Department of Biological Sciences. Undergraduates form the vast majority of students whom we teach, and our reputation is based largely on how they represent us in business and industry, in graduate and professional schools, and as teachers following graduation. They become the alumni who actively support our programs, students, and faculty.

We offer our undergraduates the opportunity to study toward either a bachelor of science degree in Biological Sciences or a bachelor of science degree in Marine Biology at both our Hattiesburg campus and our Gulf Coast campus.

B.S. Biological Sciences. Students may focus their studies in one of five emphasis areas: environmental biology, microbiology, molecular biology, general biology, and teacher licensure. The latter prepares and certifies students to teach biology in junior and senior high school. Premedical, dental, and other preprofessional students may undertake an emphasis area or in consultation with their preprofessional adviser design a program of elective course work that meets their own interests and fulfills the standards of the professional school they wish to enter.

Click on the emphasis area below to get a detailed description of the degree plan requirements:

B.S. Marine Biology. The University of Southern Mississippi is one of only a few institutions in the United States to offer a bachelor of science degree in marine biology. Our program is offered in partnership with the Department of Coastal Sciences and focuses on biological aspects of coastal plain environments, estuaries, and barrier islands of Mississippi. Classes are offered during the regular academic year at both the Hattiesburg and the Long Beach campuses, and specialized upper-level courses are taught during the Summer Field Program at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Students interested in further information about this program may contact Dr. Patricia Biesiot, associate professor of biological sciences, (601)266-4751.

Click here to get a detailed description of the degree plan requirements for the B.S. in Marine Biology. (Marine biology guideline for Junior/community college transfer students)

Click here to get logistical information about the B.S. in Marine Biology and for a sample course sequence for a B.S. in Marine Biology.